Last year August was one of the most transformative months of my life due to the fact that I had spontaneously made the decision to attend my first Burning Man. The event taught me a lot about how to live with a greater spirit of giving and how that would allow me to manifest a fuller life. Now one year later that life is beginning to fully come into fruition. That is why deciding what event I would do this August was one of the more difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make. Why? A lot of my heart just wanted to return home to the Playa, to the ephemeral community we create in the desert for a week before we practice the art of letting go and burn it all to the ground. Yet, there was a part of me that knew that there was something else happening this year, something that would only happen once, and something that surely would also be an experience I would never forget.

This event is Eclipse Gathering and happening this year only in Big Summit Prairie Oregon just far enough from the major city of Portland, Oregon to make it easy for travellers and still be off the beaten path in the midst of a magical forest. The event is being hosted by the same team who every year does Symbiosis gathering in Northern, California; however, they have banded together with other worldwide festivals like Rainbow Serpent in Australia, Envision in Costa Rica, Hadra in France, and Noisily in the UK to throw a one time only event directly in line with Solar Eclipse which will be taking place on Monday August 21st 2017. This festival seeks to bring people together from every part of the world which further exemplifies what I have been learning and reminded of each and every festival I attend: this worldwide community transcends the borders we have been taught separate us.

The event boasts seven major stages all of which will cater to a specific genre of music. For us house and techno fans the Sky Stage is where we will be most likely to be found. It features acts like the Desert Hearts Crew (Mikey Lion, Porkchop, Marbs etc), Lee Foss, &Me, Damian Lazarus, Christian Martin, DJ Tennis, Nicola Cruz, and many more (some of whom have yet to even be announced). Plus for those of us dip into other genres there is: the Eclipse Stage which will have not to miss heavier bass acts like the Glitch Mob and Shpongle (live); The Sun Stage which is completely dedicated to the psytrance tribe and features acts like Treavor Moontribe, 1200 Mics, and Hallucinogen, who rarely performs anymore; The Earth Stage and Moon Stage both feature more bass heavy acts; and finally the Big Top and Silk Road stages feature many unknown artists to us here at DHA that are just waiting to be discovered.

In addition to the incredible amount of musical performances they have planned the various festivals around the world are bringing in permaculture and environmental alchemy workshops to Oregon to help participants learn how to better interact with and care for this amazing planet we call home. This has become something more and more festivals, like Envision in Costa Rica, have been adding to their schedule. It is extremely important that we take the time to learn how to better care for our earth so we can continue to enjoy coming together and celebrating the life we are able to lead each day.

It was very difficult for me to decide that this was the event I wanted to be at and not Burning Man. Last year I discovered a new sort of home there and I wanted to return to that place. However, there is something to be said of ephemerality and stepping out of my comfort zone. Burning Man, although a new experience each year, will be there waiting for me in 2018. For now my path is to experience everything I can and realize that I manifested this by taking the steps towards making this my career. Now I must move into another festival and let the week in Oregon take me and teach me more about myself through the lens of the beautiful people I experience it beside. Luckily, today they released another final batch of tickets, found at the link here. If you would like to join me in celebration of our amazing planet and our place in this vast solar system August 17th- 23rd grad a ticket before this final batch of them sells out.